UFC TUF finale cracks 1 million viewers; Bellator MMA holds its own despite competition

Image: Fox Sports

Last Saturday’s UFC TUF 24 finale show on FS1 featuring flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson vs. TUF winner Tim Elliot on FS 1 did 1,012,000 viewers for the four fight main card.

Of their 18 shows on FS1 this year, this marks the sixth time UFC has cracked the 1 million viewership benchmark.

However, the number was down 7% from the July TUF finale, headlined by strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Claudia Gladelha, but it was up from the December 2015 TUF 22 finale (Frankie Edgar vs. Chad Mendes) that did 883,000 viewers.

The prelims did a very solid 889,000 viewers, up from the July TUF 23 finale’s 642,000 viewers. 

UFC is now averaging 965,000 viewers for the year for their FS1 main cards, up 6.5% from 2015. The prelims are averaging 730,000 this year, up 20% from 2015’s 610,000 viewers. 

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Bellator ran shows on both Friday and Saturday night from Thackerville, OK, and the results were better than expected considering the lack of star power in headlining positions.

Friday’s Bellator 166 (bantamweight champion Eduardo Dantas vs. Joe Warren) did 613,000 viewers, up from the 597,000 that a much bigger show headlined by Michael Chandler vs Benson Henderson did two weeks earlier.

The 613,000 was their biggest number since September’s Bellator 161 (Cheick Kongo vs Tony Johnson Jr.). Interestingly, Warren and Kongo have always been two of Bellator’s biggest ratings movers.

Saturday’s Bellator 167 (Darrion Caldwell vs Joe Taimanglo rematch) that went head-to-head with the aforementioned UFC show did 545,000 viewers which has to be considered a minor success. It was the third lowest number of the year, but considering the lineup and competition, it’s impressive that it was only down 50,000 viewers from the bigger show just two weekends ago.

The two companies return to the airwaves and Internet streaming this weekend with Friday’s UFC Fight Night 102 on UFC Fight Pass, and Bellator’s Saturday afternoon show on Spike TV from Italy. Also on Saturday, UFC returns to PPV with the injury-riddled UFC 206 from Toronto, CA, headlined by Anthony Pettis vs. Max Holloway. Prelims will be on FS1 per usual.